In this first segment of the autobiography, The Iron Puddler: My Life in the Rolling Mills and What Came of It, you will discover the author's, James J. Davis's, Welsh origins and formative values. He recounts whipping a bully after years of humiliation over his homemade, patchwork suit, realizing that self-respect must be defended. His father taught him pride and that success is won only through labor, to "expect no gift from life." His mother provided constant love and consolation, "always working and always singing," lighting his path to the mills.